Ora, BYD, Neta. Maybe Chinese cars aren't popular there?
They are nor low tech, not a real budget cars.
Ask HN: Why is nobody manufacturing low tech electric cars in 2024?
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Re: Ask HN: Why is nobody manufacturing low tech electric cars in 2024?
#12That’s a good catch. I also wondered because there are vast amount of people want just personal vehicle to move from A to B.
Re: Ask HN: Why is nobody manufacturing low tech electric cars in 2024?
#13Wouldn't electric car conversions count as low tech? Like those VW or 2CV conversions.
Re: Ask HN: Why is nobody manufacturing low tech electric cars in 2024?
#14Ora, BYD, Neta. Maybe Chinese cars aren't popular there?
If the OP is in the US, Chinese cars are unavailable since they don't meet US standards. Additionally, there is a level of protectionism that will try to prevent them from being introduced in the US.
There are also 100% tariffs on Chinese cars in the US. so doubling the price. Chinese EV manufacturers will likely set up final assembly plants in Mexico and ship them 90% finished, and then they will be able to circumvent that tariff. That's how Chinese steel manufacturers get into the US market.
Re: Ask HN: Why is nobody manufacturing low tech electric cars in 2024?
#15The big reason screens matter for electric cars is planning long range trips with stops at a battery charge location. Without the map/screen in-car you can’t integrate battery level with routing. Maybe you’re fine doing this manually, but range anxiety is the big reason consumers who can afford electric don’t buy electric, so it seems self defeating to remove features that help with that. The screens and stuff aren’t that much extra, often it helps save more on tooling/logistics for plastic buttons and dials.
Additionally, CarPlay/Android Auto is a hard requirement for me and many other consumers these days. I wouldn’t consider a car - gas or electric - without it. I opted for a Mercedes gas car in part because there was no overall good electric car with wireless CarPlay in my price range.
Re: Ask HN: Why is nobody manufacturing low tech electric cars in 2024?
#16Right? I would be perfectly content with a feature set from 30 years ago.
I wonder if people know exactly how much they're psying for each little gizmo that rolls down their windows, adds a PIN to their door, etc. I bet you could cut about 25% of the price off by removing goofy crap you don't need.
> I bet you could cut about 25% of the price off by removing goofy crap you don't need.
Most of those things are low cost, high margin extras. Removing them wouldn't really decrease the cost of the car for the manufacturer. A lot of the time, if you don't pay for the extra's, they are included in the car anyway because it's not worth the effort of customizing the build. They are just disabled in software.
Re: Ask HN: Why is nobody manufacturing low tech electric cars in 2024?
#17I totally agree, I really want a Caterham 7 with 4 electric hub motors and the battery where the engine used to go. It seems like it should be actually pretty cheap to build.
I do think the reason we havn't seen this class yet is that EV's are yuppie cars. They are sold at a premium for people who think this is the thing that will solve CC. When really taking busses, even petrol ones would probably do more.
Re: Ask HN: Why is nobody manufacturing low tech electric cars in 2024?
#18The Nissan Leaf has been available for many years now , and it is a very basic car (not sure you would qualify it as low tech):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Leaf
Still much more expensive than the equivalent cars with a combustion engine though.
Re: Ask HN: Why is nobody manufacturing low tech electric cars in 2024?
#19Citroën Ami is about as low tech as you can get.
If you want something more car-shaped, the Renault Zoe has very few tech feature.
Similarly, Kia Soul has a reversing camera… and that's about it! No radar, lane assist, carplay or anything like that.
Cstomers only want 3 things. A comfortable ride, a safe journey, and $thing. The problem is, everyone's one more thing is different. I want DAB radio, you want cruise control, she wants lane assist, he wants automatic parking.
Creating a dozen different SKUs for all those things is complicated. Getting regulatory approval for every variation is expensive.
So most manufacturers sell only a few variations of their models.
Re: Ask HN: Why is nobody manufacturing low tech electric cars in 2024?
#20Because marketing departments like to have lots of features to advertise. There's a lot of money in selling people things they don't need or even want.